Review of Mental tests in clinical practice

Abstract

Reviews the book, Mental tests in clinical practice by F. L. Wells (1927). The reviewer notes that this is undoubtedly the best presentation so far published on the relation of standard current tests to psychological procedure in clinics. The range of material presented is satisfactory for a student or an examiner without a great deal of experience. As is usual, there is more discussion, directly and relatively, of the Stanford and Kuhlmann Scales than of other less well-known procedures. Most of it is a presentation of interpretations with which the experienced clinical psychologist will fully agree, but the explanation of principles involved is frequently open to question. The interpretation of material is a sufficient guide for the student who uses the volume as a sourcebook of information, supplementing it with plentiful reference to other texts. Some of the other topics discussed include: methods of studying memory and intelligence; association tests; vocational problems; and personality testing. In general the book is practical for present-day usage, especially as a college text. It reflects the attitude of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital towards its own use of psychological findings and is consequently valuable to other clinics as a means of comparison with their own principles of psychological usage. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)